Insight PaaS: A Primer
A recent report from Forrester predicts that Platform as a Service (PaaS) will soon be the primary way to move big data to the public cloud, as on-premise will no longer be an option. While this is a likely scenario, there are still questions about this claim.
Insight PaaS – necessary or just hype?
Insight PaaS is a very real, very functional service that is gaining traction in the market. By providing a virtual platform for users to develop and run applications or other software over the internet, PaaS nearly eliminates the need for organizations to have a physical infrastructure. PaaS can also be accessed remotely, giving web applications and web browsers a stronger foothold in the virtual space. Combining PaaS with software as a service (SaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) creates a cloud computing service model.
How does PaaS help organizations that are looking to move their Big Data?
The functionality of PaaS makes it extremely attractive. Services include pre-configured features that allow users to subscribe to the service they need, resulting in cost-savings over other services that require users to purchase or lease a whole package rather than exact services. PaaS is easy to access and can be delivered in several ways to best fit the organization’s needs, including:
- A public cloud service;
- Software installed in the company’s data centers; or
- Public IaaS managed internally
Generally, PaaS is less complex than other services, which allows users to conduct higher-level programming with greater ease.
Why is PaaS necessary?
Cloud computing has broadened the horizons of organizations worldwide by making big data much more accessible, and has paved the way for standardizing operations and making PaaS incredibly attractive. The value of standardizing operations through cloud computing has proven to be successful, and more companies will be making moves to do so in the very near future. PaaS makes moving easier, more cost effective and speedier than traditional migration techniques.
Storage is a commodity that is often in short supply in the enterprise. As many customers look to move their data from on-premise to the cloud, PaaS presents as friendlier alternative to more traditional (and time consuming) methods. As the demand for PaaS grows, so too will the demand for vendors who specialize in PaaS. The market is poised to grow and it will be interesting to see which organizations step up to the challenge.
Who will lead the way to PaaS dominance?
Several players in the PaaS space will need to step up in order to establish dominance in the field. PaaS vendors who attach themselves to larger, well-known brands (like Google, IBM and Amazon Web Services) stand a better chance of becoming significant players in the market.
Will this be a fast or slow ride to adoption?
The speed of adoption will likely be greater than predicted, as the security and staffing benefits of moving to an Insight PaaS was not examined in the Forrester report. Currently, many enterprises are struggling with creating effective and manageable data lakes. Trying to gain actionable insight into the data is a far greater problem that people will look to external leaders to help speed up delivery of new business solutions. Marketing and Sales departments are looking for speed to market through insights rather than wait for IT to create an in-house solution.
In the not-so-distant future, the most successful PaaS vendors will be the ones who offer services customers desire now, as well as anticipating what they’ll want later. Hindsight may be 20/20 but foresight is priceless.
By Daren Glenister
